With Elder Elico Manenji
✝️ The second letter to the Corinthians was written from Philippi where Paul was till the days of the feast of unleavened bread. It was written when Timothy, Aristarchus and Secundus the Macedonians, Gaius of Thessalonica accompanied him. The letter was sent to Corinth by one of his fellow workers Titus. The Apostle here wrote encouraging the Corinthians to trust in God even when they faced adversities and afflictions. He expresses strong confidence in their fidelity to God. He tells them.alao of the heavy tribulations which he was passing through which he says every genuine Christian will pass through but still maintains his desire to visit them.
*1️⃣2 Corinthians 1:1-11: Salutations, protection and deliverance.*
⏹️ All genuine Christians are called by "the will of God" they are asserted as children of God by Divine authority, their calling and precept is of God as they assume that character and office patterned after that of Christ. The Apostle Peter says, *"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1Peter 1:3).*
⏭️Such genuine Christians in all parts of the world shoul be extended to them *"grace and peace."* The Apostle Peter says, *"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord"(2 Peter 1:2).*
The Apostle John the Revelator says, *"Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love"(2John 1:3).*
*"John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is coming, and from the seven-fold Spirit who is before His throne"(Revelation 1:4).*
⏭️ Grace is God's unmerited favour toward a repentant sinner, exercise of God's love,, it is the gift of His mercy on the undeserving sinner that should be seen in the beauties of character and conduct of mind and thoughts that refine a person into the likeness of God. The prophet Daniel says, *"And behold, as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips; and I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said to him that stood before me, “O my lord, at the sight of you my insides were turned within me, and I had no strength"(Daniel 10:16).*
The Apostle Paul says, *"For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection"(Romans 6:5).*
⏭️Peace is that rest of heart and mind, it is security of an undisturbed conscience and self-will, it is not shaken by fear, want or need, peace settles us in the beacon of the Cross of Christ. Those living in peace shall trust in God, they shall lay themselves down in Christ and die in peace and will be raised peacefully by the merits offered by Christ on the Cross. The Apostle says, *"May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 4:7).*
*2️⃣2 Corinthians 1:12-24: The Apostle's sincerity in preaching the gospel and excuse of his not coming to them.*
⏹️ Christians should live in a clear conscience, it faithfully testifies against all our shortcomings and moral imperfections. The Apostle Peter says, *"For when they speak haughty words of emptiness, they entice through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, those who are escaping from those who are living in error"(2 Peter 2:18).*
⏭️ A clear conscience makes us discover the source of deceptions in the world were sin and sinners reside. The Apostle John says, *"Little children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour"(1John 2:18)*
⏭️Conscience is the greatest power in the world, it is an inward knowledge which speaks either for or against the person in whom it resides. It witnesses not only to outward things but also to inner ones not only to our words and actions but to our motives, thoughts, and feelings. The Apostle Paul says, *"Now the goal of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck"(1 Timothy 1:19).*
⏹️God's promises are always "yes" in Jesus Christ. All His promises are made according to the
purpose of His own will. God's promises display the qualities of Him who uttered them that He is true, immutable, powerful and eternal. The Apostle John says, *"He who receives His testimony has certified that God is true"(John 3:33).*
⏹️God's promises have been fulfilling and are being fulfilled,, by His actual incarnation, that is God becoming a man, by His atoning death and resurrection, by His ascension power and promise to come back for the Saints. The Apostle says, *"And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and who gave to us the ministry of this reconciliation"(2 Corinthians 5:18).*
⏭️ The certainty and guarantee of the promises are invested in that Christ said, *"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me"( Matthew 28:18).*
*🅰️Appeal*
God is true and His Son Jesus Christ is true, the Holy Spirit is true, for eternal life is true, the preaching of the gospel is true and
infallible truth. There is no "Yes and No", for there is inviolable constancy and unquestionable sincerity and certainty in all the parts of the gospel of Christ. The Apostle says, *"By no means! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar, just as it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, and You may prevail when You are judged"(Romans 3:4).* Amen!!!
Elico Manenji
(+263712952704).
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